Memorable/Terrifying Train Journeys

 

Maybe my most interesting and terrifying train journey was that taken with my old Beaumont friend John Farr (may he RIP) in about 1970 from London to Istanbul via Munich. Munich itself was still being excavated for constructing a subway but we were able safely to board the train with reserved seats bound for Turkey.

The guards used to  check the wheels' soundness  by hitting the train wheels from time to time with sledge hammers.   After one such check in Greece after a minor earthquake,  the train  was deemed dangerous so  we had to disembark.  Another train was found but without reserved seats. At Bulgaria the engine was switched to a steam train which then headed slowly to Istanbul, About a mile from the terminus people who were living on the tracks had to rise to make way for the train but finally it arrived at our destination.

The next  difficult  journey a few months later was  on a train from Cairo to Luxor. The train was full of prisoners in chains which was unnerving. Going to the WC was difficult as the WCs were taken up with prisoners in chains. On one occasion solders agreed to stand guard whils I pee'd through a gap between carriages. That was hard enough but the experience was made more memorable by the soldiers firing their machine guns through the train roof.

Another memorable journey was what started as a routine commute from London Vauxhall to Wimbledon. I blogged about this at the time: Memorable commuter train journey

A far happier memorable train journey was one which mrs maytrees and I took from London to Aberdeen on the overnight sleeper. This was in many ways matched by our journey years before on the unmodernised sleeper from London to Inverness. See both

Train to Inverness and Train to Aberdeen

The whisky on the Aberdeen journey and  the Haggis enroute to Inverness were both of course also memorable.

Then comes our summer holiday train to St Ives Cornwall where again we had reserved seats. On the return journey to London there were terrific thunder storms in England and the lightening brought most trains to a halt. However the train from Plymouth from which we were bound to London, was not directly affected. Indirectly though, being the sole London bound  train, it soon became packed to overflowing.

All of the HCPT overnight  pilgrim trains  from Bolougne sur mer to Lourdes were  exciting and one or two were terrifying.

The most terrifying was when one night at a remote French railway station where for some reason the train had halted, three men fleeing from the station bar  tried to board. The gendarmerie fired tear gas at the men who were caught. The tear gas cannisters missed the rogues but hit the open window of one of our compartments in which three HCPT Group 35 asthmatics were sleeping. They woke up and  were sick. I protested to the gendarmes but the row  was defused by the train driver who came over and said: moi asthmatic aussi. 

Another exciting HCPT train journey took place during a national French railway strike when a lady HCPT helper  who had been in the resistance during WWII persuaded a union leader who had also been in the French resistance, to drive the train personally to Lourdes.

Overall train travel now seems likely to increase partly as a result of the war in the Middle East.

 

Rasputin

 

                                    

                                Setting off to war - above

Retreat from Moscow by Napoleon's army - below.

The fact that the Russians under the Tsar took the train east,  then marched off to fight the Japanese and were  then defeated probably did not help the Tsar survive the revolution when it came.

Antony Beevor's biography about Rasputin makes for fascinating reading. Coincidentally the biography is  largely set in Russia at about the same time as the Summerfolk play about which I blogged last week. 

In much the same way  as the wealthy Summerfolk by their indulgent behaviour really  helped speed the way to the Russian Revolution so did the behaviour of Rasputin.

Rasputin appears to me to have had part of him who from time to time seemed almost holy yet almost simultaneously appears as a dreadful womaniser rapist and. absurdly friendly with the Tsar Nicolas II and his wife Alexandra, who according to Antony Beevor were besotted with him. 

History was never a strong subject of mine but from what I can fathom, Russia at the time had no constitution and was ruled at the whim of the Tsars. Ordinary people were treated really as serfs.

Interestingly England  still has no written constitution but the Magna Carta signed as long ago as 1215 by King John, successfully divided power and usually kept our monarch in check.

  

The Russian Empire by failing to have an equivalent to our Magna Carta, in my humble opinion, led to their revolution and the slaying of their former Tsar and families, essentially leading to the USSR and then to the Russia of today.

My Summerfolk blogpost is at:

Summerfolk

Summerfolk

 

The National Theatre play Summerfolk  which youngest sister, mrs maytrees and I attended at the Olivier Theatre earlier this week, played to a packed audience and was excellent.

We decided to have lunch at the NT cafe which was inexpensive though perhaps understandably somewhat crowded. The play and lunch were our bithday present to youngest sister who reaches her 70th birthday this month.

Coincidentally I am reading the recently published book Rasputin and the Downfall of  the Romanovs by Antonoy Beever. Both the play and the book are for the most part set in the early 1900s. I will probably make a blog post about the book in a few days time.

Summerfolk was  a long play which rewarded concentration. There was a large cast of some twnty three characters.

An extract from a review of the play in the Radio Times reads:

Gorky's work deals with the preoccupations of the intelligentsia right before the Russian Revolution; affairs, loveless marriages, opinions on lacklustre poetry. At times, we the audience, as a fly on the wall, can see deeper into the darker side of the upper middle class psyche of the time; from the male characters' rampant misogyny to Pyotr's disdain for his own working class origins.

Gorky and the Raine siblings have worked in tandem to create a hilarious and affecting script, stuffed with terrific one-liners and expertly-placed expletives, without shying away from the darker elements.

It's impossible not to draw parallels between Summerfolk's underlying sense of political and social unease and the churning anxiety present in our current world. These eerie similarities mean that this contemporary production speaks to the timelessness of theatre.

Despite being reduced by an hour, Summerfolk still boasts a hefty run-time. While the first half effortlessly flies by, the production begins to show its runtime more in the second half, as repeated arguments lead it to losing a little steam.

An excellent afternoon.

Easter Week 2026

 

The war in Iran was cited as the reason for Israel initially preventing the traditional Palm Sunday mass being celebrated in Jerusalem though  I believe the Israeli government eventually relented somewhat. 

In any event the above picture is of holy mass being celebrated on 2nd April 2026 at the church of the Holy Sepulchre.

Earlier, Psalm Sunday mass was celebrated at the Sacred Heart Church in Wimbledon and I attended  the first mass of Psalm Sunday which took place on the Saturday night. There was quite a crowd there and the lengthy passion scripture was read outside, near the main door before we entered the church for the long holy mass.

Iran has professed a wish to extinguish Israel, so the latter country's attacks on Iran are to some extent understandable. Those of the USA on the other hand are in my opinion,  not. I loathed the Iranian government's method of controlling its people  before the current attacks by the USA and Israel, by for example killing at least 30,000 of them for their protest riots. However even then the matter was for the Iranian people  not for foreigners to attempt to resolve.

President Trump's actions remind me of those of King Herod who attempted  unsuccessfully to kill the infant Jesus. Of course President Trump may be suffering from dementia or another kind of illness,and in any case, perhaps the words of the Apostle Luke in chapter 23 verse 34 of the New Testament apply:

Father forgive them for they know not what they do. 

Avebury

Youngest brother J youngest sister S and I decided to a trip to Avebury this week. As the trip would involve a fair deal of walking, J's wife and mrs maytrees decided that this awayday would not be for them.

S traveled to our meeting point at the local pub by train and bus whereas J and I went by car from his house near Guildford. J had visited the site quite recently whereas my previous trip there had been years back enroute probably from holiday in Cornwall.

The car journey to Avebury took about ninety minutes with free parking there for National Trust members. We all met at the Red Lion Pub near to the stone circles and enjoyed a tasty lunch together with a drink or two.

J had selected our walking trip which with small map reading errors, covered about six miles.

Age as well as Covid-19, are making their mark on me at least, but we completed the interesting and enjoyable walk, returning  back to Avebury Village in time for tea and sandwiches at the nearby National Trust tea shop. The  weather by then was warm enough for us to enjoy at a table outside.

 

The journey home was uneventful - a most interesting day away.

 

Wimbledon Village Drinking Fountain

Simon Charles Potter was a year above me at the long since closed Beaumont College. He has many claims to fame since those days, one of which is being a teacher of arts at Wimbledon College since I believe the 1970s. In earlier days he used to travel to the College by a motor cycle and side-car and we occasionally chatted on the road  near the College on Wimbledon's Edge Hill and at an occasional Beaumont Union  meeting or dinner. 

He is also the author of several books and has just written a piece for the parish magazine Edgeways an extract from which reads:

 On Tuesday 10 March, pupils from

Wimbledon College and Ursuline High
School attended the unveiling of the
Hanbury Drinking Fountain on
Wimbledon Village’s High Street, opposite
the Rose and Crown pub.
The ceremony followed a major
restoration led by Heritage of London
Trust, in partnership with Merton Council
and the Wimbledon Society. Over 100
young people in school history clubs,
including those from our parish’s schools,
have been involved with the restoration
through the Proud Places programme.
The Victorian fountain – now conserved,
gilded, and returned to working order –
stands as a striking example of Britain’s
nineteenth-century fascination with Greek
Revival architecture, shaping the country’s
public monuments and civic spaces. 

The fountain was originally presented to
the public as a gift by Robert William
Hanbury, MP and President of the Board
of Agriculture. It first opened in 1860 on
the Strand before being relocated to
Wimbledon Common, near Hanbury’s
home. As part of the restoration, the
fountain has been relocated from the
Common to the bustling High Street to
serve more passers-by.

Probably the relocation of the drinking fountain to the Village from its former site on Wimbledon Common, was assisted by Merton Council recently becoming debt free but that is speculation on my part. 

Portobello Road

The parents of a friend of maytrees min who I met as they were out for a morning stroll, told me that they had recently visited Portobello Road market. Knowing that they did not have easy access to a car I asked them how they had traveled there.

Traveling by London Underground on the Edgeware Road section of the District Line from Wimbledon  to Notting Hill Gate; and from there walking, was their chosen route. As mrs maytrees and I had not visited Portobello Road in the case of mrs maytrees ever, and in my own case, for years we decided 

to travel there a few days later.

Traveling with youngest brother and his wife we arrived at Notting Hill  Gate Underground station in good time and made the walk from there to the market in about 15 minutes. Youngest brother's wife uses fabrics for her chair restoring work so she and mrs maytrees especially enjoyed themselves looking through the fabric stores. 

We traveled on a Friday so as to avoid the large crowds that I gather often attend the street at weekends. However a disadvantage of that was that most of the antiques stores were closed although there was still much to see and explore. 

The Spanish cuisine was reportedly worth savouring. However as it began to pour with rain we opted for an Italian restaurant which we happened to be passing. There I enjoyed some ravioli. though remembering years ago whilst a schoolboy at long since closed Beaumont College (a boarding school) the riots in the school refectory on being served with ravioli for the third time in a week. The ravioli was delicious but rather a small portion in my view though not expensive.

The Spanish food turned out to be available slightly further on though largely at stalls rather than cafes.

As school children tend to crowd streets from about 3:30pm we traveled back to Wimbledon at about 3pm after a very enjoyable away day..

 

War and Peace

On Wednesday there was a small HCPT Group 35/729 reunion at Mass in Westminster Cathedral and afterwards over lunch in the restaurant/cafe in the cathedral cellar.

Prayers for peace  especially in the Middle East were said both privately and and publicly during Mass.

 

 

Bernie pictured above, who is from Baghdad  Iraq where her sister lives as a nun, was strongly supportive of the  Israeli/USA attacks on Iran. My own support was/is more limited - see below.. 

If the USA's view that Iran is on the verge of introducing  atomic bombs is anywhere near true, then the USA joining in Israel's attacks may be justified. President Trump's statement about this however, may or may not be accurate.

The UN which   did not stop Russia's attacks on Ukraine, seems only to have   very limited power.

According to Wikipedia:

 ...following the revolution, Iran adopted the elimination of Israel as a   Jewish state as a core component of its foreign policy. The Iranian government refuses to recognize Israel’s legitimacy as a state, calling for its destruction...

Given that policy, Israel in my view could hardly be criticised for attacking Iran first. Whether the same would apply to the USA as an ally of Israel is more questionable. There already appear to have been many attempts at bombing and killing people in the UK by or on behalf of Iran.

I am no friend of Keir Starmer the UK Prime Minister, but consider that  on this occasion he was correct in endeavouring to sit on the fence for the time being, although his failure to be able to provide much immediate defence for UK bases in Cyprus appeared very weak.

Gorton and Denton By-election

That The Green Party might even win the Gorton and Denton by-election hardly crossed my mind. Mid term elections are not usually  won by the  party in government so that Labour lost even in a constituency in which that party had had an huge majority and and held for over 100 years, was not of itself so catastrophic. Rather, whereas in times past one might have expected the Lib Dem party to be the major winners of voters' discontent with the government, a party such as  The Greens might have expected to lose its deposit.

Far from losing its deposit The Greens won the vote pushing Labour into third place  with both Tories and Lib Dems securing under 2% of the vote and losing their deposits.

The positive points about The Green's success include the wake up calls to the other parties. A minor positive is of course the youthful nature of The Green's new member of parliament: 

 

Winter Olympics - 2

 

 

Originally I had thought that the Winter Olympics would not be worth watching (sadly for me only on TV) because such expensive and minority sports are involved. Yet upon reflection, nearly all Olympic sports both Summer and Winter are costly,

For financing, Team GB relies heavily on UK lottery money for funding both Summer and Winter Olympics. As an aside, only some  years ago there were considerable arguments against setting up a national lottery in the UK at all, on quasi moral grounds, though apparently long since forgotten.

One of my siblings queried whether curling should be in the Winter Olympics at all. His arguments included the minority and expensive  nature of the sport as well as its absence from African countries. In fact there are a couple of African countries (Nigeria and Kenya) promoting curling. Nonetheless, most Olympic sports are expensive requiring substantial funding.  Interestingly though, curling featured in the first   Winter Olympics (1926).

Fascinating as well is an analysis of the best material used for making the  curling rocks. The material from which they are made comes from and uninhabited Scottish Island called Ailsa Craig situate in the Firth of Clyde. Encyclopedia Britannica states:

Ailsa Craig is a 99-hectare, uninhabited island in Scotland’s Firth of Clyde, renowned as an extinct volcanic plug rising over 1,100 feet. Known as "Paddy’s Milestone" and the "Fairy Rock," this Ayrshire landmark is a major bird sanctuary hosting massive gannet colonies. It is famous for its unique blue hone granite, used to craft over 60% of the world's curling stones

Reverting to the Winter Olympic curling sport itself; Team GB's men somehow managed to secure a spot in the finals which will be held this evening. As a result they should   already  be at least silver medal winners - Gold if they can beat Canada in the final. 

Another Team GB medal hope this evening is Zoe Atkin in the Women's halfpipe final.though so far I have not watched her competing.

Bonne Chance! 

Winter Olympics 2026

The last time I watched any Winter Olympic sport was some years ago when Team GB's Scottish  women did brilliantly in curling - a sport of which I knew virtually nothing about..

Winter Olympics viewing is often not worthwhile from a timing point of view but the Italian venue this year is only one hour ahead of GMT so ideal watching on TV in this country.

This year having read in the media daily about how Team GB were coming 4th or  otherwise crashing out in their chosen sports, watching for myself seemed worthwhile so yesterday evening I looked at the  the men's skeleton events at Milan-Cortina on BBC TV. 

Pretty exciting stuff as the competitors in skeleton which I had not heard of let alone watched before, can race at speeds of up to ninety mph while lying prone only an inch or two from the racing circuit ice - terrifying.

Matt Weston  of Team GB broke records in all four of his heats and won gold  despite  his previous speculation about giving up his sport altogether, partly because of a back stress fracture as a teenager.

Congratulations to him and all concerned with his win.. 

British Politics and Prime Ministerial Responsibilities

 

As recently as December 2025 my  top prediction for 2026 was that:

The UK Prime Minister will be replaced

Sir Keir Starmer has not so far been replaced as  Prime Minister despite his appointing the disgraced Baron Mendelson as the UK's ambassador to the USA but seems likely imho to be ousted and or replaced this year, perhaps even by May..Mendelson was of course disgraced by his dreadful association with Jefferey Epstein, who committed suicide.

There is an interesting article in today's Times newspaper about scandals affecting UK Prime Ministers going back to C19. Many scandals have affected British Prime Ministers some of which  are detailed  in that newspaper.. 

One of the most interesting scandals to a C21 eye in my view, is that of Prime Minister HH Asquith see Asquith. Yet  neither that nor any  right through to  PM Boris Johnson's scandal of holding  an illegal tea party at  10 Downing Street during the Covid-19 pandemic when such parties were banned, seem as appalling as the current Prime Minister's appointment of Mendelson though more information is yet to emerge to public view. The scandals of course relate to the dreadful behaviour of Mendelson  with Jeffrey Epstein and  the association with  Epstein of many other political and/or wealthy people, including British Labour Party members..

When one looks at who could replace Starmer there does not appear to be any suitable candidate in his current cabinet..Wes Streeting is a possibility but its is reported that he too had an association with  the current scandal in some way so that surely needs to be clarified first.

Matthew Laza  a back bench Labour MP has no apparent Mendelson connections and has publicly stated that he would not wish to be the UK PM. 

SadaMagazine reports of Mr Laza:

Matthew Laza is a name that has gained significant recognition in both the political and media landscapes. Known for his strategic mind and dynamic career trajectory, Laza has worn many hats, including being a senior adviser, a media strategist, and a commentator on political issues. His work in both media and politics has placed him in the spotlight, particularly within the Labour Party and the broader political spectrum in the United Kingdom

 For all of that Mathew Laza would have my vote.

The Greatest Story Ever Told

 

As one who prefers a quiet,   low holy Mass to  a sung, high  holy Mass, the above book   by Bear Grylls is ideal though he unlike myself, must have read most if not all, of the biblical New Testament and fairly speedily, for writing his biblical accounts.

The book is  not lengthy being but 277 pages long. My oldest son's schooldays  reader's version of the New Testament part of the  Roman Catholic  The New Jerusalem Bible is even shorter at 269 pages. 

In the version by Bear Grylls  the biblical accounts are spoken by 5 different  characters from the time: Mary, Thomas, Simon and John. The accounts are straightforward  and contain the doubts and questions that we would probably have had as eye witnesses had we been present.

Unsurprisingly the book is a best seller and is likely to remain so for some while.

According to Wikipedia:

 Edward Michael "Bear" Grylls OBE is a British adventurer, television presenter and former SAS trooper. He holds several world records...

 

 

Climate Change

 

Certainly UK weather has changed over my lifetime so far. When at Beaumont College as a boy I recall the Thames being frozen solid in Old Windsor. Even upstream in Windsor where the river is wider people were able to walk and even cycle ride  on the ice:

 

 

Today there are reports in The Times that some UK farmers experimenting with rice growing and even with a tea plantation or two. Farming tea or rice in England would not really have been possible in the 1960s.

 

Further afield there are newspaper articles about atrociously cold snow storms hitting large sections of North America with CNN reporting today for example that:

 

• Widespread threat: Two-thirds of the US population is facing down a monster winter storm and extreme cold. The storm’s snow and ice will stretch over 2,000 miles from Texas to New England as it tracks east through the weekend.

• Catastrophic ice storm: Crippling ice accumulations will weigh down and drop power lines and trees in the most serious icing zones in the South. Hundreds of thousands could lose power, some for days. 

Of course global warming affects many other countries very severely. For example in Australia  there was a recent news report of a large number of wild camels which were roaming the outback in search of water. The camels would invade a nearby township raiding the water barrels of some  dwellers and causing many to remain indoors until the camels were seen off.

Camels the humps of which store  fat some of which is transformed into water when required, are usually self sufficient but not this time. 

 

In a Bleak and Dark Midwinter

The title to this blog post is of course that of the well known Christmas carol though photographing in the dark is not within my ken or camera capabilities. 

Here we are over three weeks from Christmas day yet early morning walks are still shrouded in dark. 'Bleak' is not how they appear though. The few people one meets or passes by at 6:30am tend to be more friendly than those at say 12:30pm. 

On Christmas morning well before dawn, maytrees max and his wife Gillian  who had just flown over for Christmas from Jersey in the Channel Islands, maytrees min and  her three week old baby 'atomic dot' well wrapped up and cosily asleep in her pram,  went for a walk over a dark Wimbledon Common to the Windmill with yours truly.

Gillian had not previously visited Wimbledon. Our powerful torch was lit for the beginning of the walk but by the half-way stage when we reached the windmill, dawn had broken and Gillian who is Scottish was pleased to see the  Scottish flag aloft at the golf club house.

We then walked around to the Cannizaro hotel where some had early morning breakfast.I just made it back through Wimbledon Village to the Sacred Heart church in time for early Christmas morning holy mass.

 

 

  

Social Media

Probably for people aged in their 70s like yours truly, social media is rather less relevant than for younger generations. This blog is of course may be a category of social media though it is largely a personal diary open to others to read if they wish.

Australia has banned social media access for children age under 16. This appears  to be wise though of course young people are bound to find ways round this. One of the factors in the Australian ban is I understand, that of young people's brains being altered by their constantly referring to social media

Obviously mobile phones provide children even more opportunities than social media, for distractions or avoiding direct conversation with their fellows. Some schools in England are banning children from bringing mobile phones into schools for such  reasons. Others are requiring mobile phones to be deposited with administration and retrieved only at the end of the school day. 

One of the main reasons for limiting children's social media and mobile phone use, is the apparent effect on young brains resulting from their frequent use.

The furore in the UK at least about the ease by using AI, with which users of  X  can arrange for  images of individuals both adult and children to be  unclothed on-line, is very interesting. The decision by X to require users to pay for this 'service' fails to go far enough. A full ban by X is required in my view though many including GB News  disagree on free speech  grounds, with such a complete ban. 

Indeed on GB News a TV station I often watch, most of the members of the Friday audience agreed with their hosts about not imposing such a ban.

In my view safeguarding children and women should take priority over  free speech.

United Nations Reform?

 

The United Nations is surely after President Trump's removal of the Venezuelan dictator, ripe for reform?   Dictators are not my cup of tea but sadly the world seems full of them. President Trump's actions not so far apparently approved in the USA by Congress, verges on giving him the appearance of being a dictator or if not, moving in that direction.

For a foreign leader to  depose a dictator may be a fairly straight forward  action for a wealthy country with sizeable and well equipped armed forces but ensuring the country is reasonably well run thereafter is hardly easy, as the case of Iraq illustrates. 

The 2003 removal oft the dictator Saddam Hussein, from running Iraq again by USA led forces, was effected in a  relatively straightforward way but governing the country thereafter was, putting it mildly, difficult.

My Catholic friend from Baghdad   initially welcomed the regime change but fairly soon afterwards condemned it. The USA had few if any plans for running Iraq  with the result that fighting and killings took place between various faction for years afterwards.

The USA now appears to have few real plans for Venezuela beyond seeking the country's extensive oil supply although this may of course be incorrect.

More significantly there are many other nations run by dictators not the least of which is China. Thus reforming the United Nations may be the least worst way forward. 

What reforms to the UN should there be? Setting up a committee to consider this way forward is a possibility especially if the committee is required to report back to the UN general assembly within  say 12 months.

My own view is that reform rendering decisions of  the UN Security Council to be capable of being delayed by a year following a general assembly vote to that effect, would be possible. The House of Lords in the UK can currently use such delaying powers as regards many decisions of the House of Commons through which the government generally operates. The power to delay is limited to one month for tax and spending decisions. Presumably not too dissimilar  provisions could be made to work for the UN.

 

Oliver!

Youngest  sister as Christmas presents, bought tickets for mrs maytrees, maytrees ma, our grand daughter "micro dot" and herself, to see Oliver! at the theatre in London on 27th December 2025.

Unfortunately, mrs maytrees was unable to attend on the day so I  traveled in her stead, We met for a Pizza Express kindly provided by maytrees ma, before attending the nearby Gielgud Theatre for the musical. 

Having seen reports of a decline in the number of  people visiting London over the bank holiday week end, it was surprising to find the streets so crowded as well as and especially, the Piccadilly Line part of the tube journey  home. 

I am not usually a fan of musicals but very much enjoyed this one. The theatre was full despite the ticket pricing. The four of us were in a front row box of which was slightly less pricey than the main stalls seats as  view from those seats was slightly restricted. Nonetheless, we were near the orchestra  and were able to peer down to see members of the orchestra play, as well as the nearby conductor with great enthusiasm, control their music.

The large number of actors as well as the orchestra justified the seat prices. There were many children in the cast  as well as in the auditorium. As I gather that  there are legal limits on the length of time for children who may act, I noticed a small advertisment for budding child actors to apply for auditions.

The show was excellent and many of the songs I recognised. The original story by Charles Dickens is of course well known. 

Most importantly the show, Oliver! was enjoyed by micro dot despite its length.

An excellent afternoon especially as upon returning home we found that  mrs maytrees had begun to make a decent recovery from  her Christmas weariness..

 

Holy and Happy Christmas 2025

 

The above picture is of a tradition of Christians in  Iraq who   burn some dried thorn branches at Christmas. 

The Middle East Eye reports:

A Christmas tradition in Iraq, and sometimes also Syria, involves a bonfire of dried thorned branches. 

The fire is lit after children complete a recitation of the nativity story, which is read by candlelight from the Book of Psalms. The candles are then used to light the thorns.

Tradition says that if the thorns burn completely and turn to ash, the year ahead will be filled with good fortune.

Once the flames have died, each person in the family jumps over the ashes three times and makes a wish.

Date-filled biscuits, called "klecha", are also enjoyed and exchanged over the festive period.

 

Predictions for 2026

Predicting possible events for the oncoming year is never easy. In previous years the decline of certain newspapers such as the broadsheet Independent or tabloid Evening Standard  were quite predictable with both publications now continuing as on-line versions only. 

Predictions for next year however seem far from straightforward. My top six predictions are:

1. The UK Prime Minister will be replaced

2. Share prices around the world will collapse. 

3. PoTUS will become unable to enact much in the way of new laws as the Democrats in USA will win more power. 

4. AFC Wimbledon will not be demoted back to EFL Division 2 

5. Wold Cup football in the American continent will be too expensive for ordinary  football supporters.

6. The Russian  war in Ukraine will not be ended anytime soon. 

Predictions 1. and 4. would seem the most rewarding though predictions 3 and 6.. are probably the most important.